A week after his singles victory at the Slovenian Open in Maribor, Arnaud Merklé almost did it again this Sunday afternoon in the singles final of the Austrian Open. But the Red Star Mulhouse player, 103rd in the world, ran out of fuel to win his 4th international tournament in Graz.
However, he had approached his Austrian final with a certain psychological ascendancy, since he found his unhappy finalist in Slovenia, the Indonesian Panji Ahmad Maulana, 207th, in front of him, whom he had stifled on May 22 (21-8, 21- 10). In the morning, he had also removed from his route, for his third semi-final in three tournaments – after the internationals of Portugal on May 9 and Slovenia to be precise – another Indonesian, Ihsan Maulana Mustofa, 113th, at the end of ‘a controlled match (21-14, 21-16).
The vice-champion of France 2020 also started the final on the hats of wheel and put Maulana under the extinguisher in the first set, before slowing down in the 2nd and succumbing in the 3rd after running after the score. from start to finish (21-11, 8-21, 15-21).
Cruel outcome for the Villeger – Bauer duo
Unfortunately for them, William Villeger and Sharone Bauer experienced greater disillusionment. The Strasbourgers failed to defeat the Indian sign and lost for the 4th time in four international finals, after the Norway internationals 2019, the Czech Republic Open 2019 and Portugal three weeks ago.
The pair of ASPTTS, seeded n ° 1 and 67th, gave in nothing against the Malaysians Choong Hon Jian and Toh Ee Wei, 182nd, authors of a hat-trick after their coronation at the Opens of Poland on March 28 and Slovenia the other Saturday (21-16, 9-21, 19-21).
A defeat with a necessarily bitter taste, especially since this Sunday morning in the semi-finals, the Lower Rhine tandem had once again justified its status as favorite by overcoming, admittedly with difficulty, the Danes Emil Hybel and Elisa Meelgard (16- 21, 21-9, 21-19).
For the two postal workers, this spring 2021 remains very positive, with, in three tournaments, two finals and a first quarter in a Super 300 ten days ago at the Spanish Masters in Huelva.
